What I say unto you I say unto all, watch. Mark 13:37

July 24, 2013

Palestinians: U.S. Paving The Way For Third Intifada

More than three years after he decided to boycott peace talks with
Israel, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas finally agreed last
week to return to the negotiating table.

Abbas’s decision came after a series of meetings with U.S. Secretary of
State John Kerry, who took it upon himself, ever since he assumed office,
to revive the stalled peace talks.

Kerry’s dramatic announcement last Friday in the Jordanian capital of
Amman about the resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks did not
come as a surprise to many Palestinians, especially those familiar Abbas’s
performance.

By agreeing to resume the peace talks with Israel, Abbas is taking a
big gamble.

His critics argue that Abbas dropped all his previous conditions for
resuming the peace talks, particularly a full cessation of settlement
construction and Israeli recognition of the pre-1967 lines.

The critics claim that all what Abbas received from Kerry were “verbal
assurances” that Israel would accept his conditions. The critics maintain
that in the eyes of Abbas’s people, the absence of written assurances from
the Americans will undermine his credibility.

Abbas’s decision has already earned him the wrath of many Palestinians,
including members of his Fatah faction.

With the exception of Fatah, all PLO factions have come out against the
resumption of the peace talks under Kerry’s terms. These factions include
the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Democratic Front for
the Liberation of Palestine and the Peoples’ Party, in addition to Hamas
and Islamic Jihad.

Kerry’s announcement came exactly 24 hours after PLO officials held a
stormy meeting in Ramallah during which they refused to support the idea
of resuming the peace talks unless Israel accepted all their demands.

Among Palestinians, it was impossible to find one individual or faction
or movement that welcomed Kerry’s announcement about the resumption of the
peace talks.

For now, Abbas appears to be determined to swim against the tide,
prompting many Palestinians to denounce him for committing “political
suicide.”

So what drove Abbas to say yes to Kerry?

Palestinians in Ramallah said this week that Abbas was being “dragged”
against his will to the talks with Israel.

“President Abbas could no longer tolerate the immense pressure put on
him by Kerry,” explained a Palestinian Authority official.

The official said that Kerry had “threatened” to hold Abbas responsible
for the failure of his mission to revive the peace process -- a threat
that apparently scared the Palestinian Authority president into softening
his position.

Some Palestinian officials have also talked about another threat made
by Kerry -- this time to suspend financial aid or impose economic
sanctions against the Palestinian Authority. That threat also left Abbas
in a state of panic, the officials said.

Other Palestinians, however, believe that Abbas’s decision is no more
than a clever political gambit. They say that Abbas will return to the
peace talks for a number of months, after which he will once again pull
out and hold Israel fully responsible for the failure of the peace
process.

Abbas will pull out of the talks once he realizes that Israel is not
going to accept all his demands, foremost a full withdrawal to the
pre-1967 lines and the “right of return” for Palestinians to their former
homes inside Israel.

Pulling out of the negotiations and blaming Israel for “obstructing”
peace would facilitate Abbas’s original plan to embark on unilateral
measures such as seeking full membership of a Palestinian state in the
United Nations and its agencies.

The last time Israel was blamed for the failure of the peace process
was in the summer of 2000, when Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat
rejected former Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s offer at the botched Camp
David summit.

Arafat returned to Ramallah to tell Palestinians that Israel does not
want peace. A few weeks later the second intifada erupted, claiming the
lives of thousands of Israeli and Palestinians.

The same scenario is likely to be repeated when and if Abbas walks out
of the Kerry-sponsored peace talks -- an action meaning a third intifada
might be on its way.

U.S. President William Jefferson Clinton’s attempt at the time to force
Arafat to make peace with Israel was what paved the way for the second
intifada. Kerry, by forcing Abbas to agree to something that most
Palestinians are not willing to accept, appears to be moving in the same
direction. †

My comment: I think the statement, "Abbas
will return to the peace talks for a number of months, after which he will
once again pull out and hold Israel fully responsible for the failure of
the peace process" is very telling. It's been the play used over and
over again and as stated in the article, led in 2000 to the second
intifada. However given the many statements by the Islamic national
leaders, such as
this Palestinian Minister Hinting that a Peace Deal Would be Temporary
Arrangment Before Conquering Israel Outright, go to show that there
are two faces to the attempts to divide Israel. Under Islam, land
once possessed by Islam, if subsequently lost to an invader, remains land
that is holy to Islam. It is especially imperative that such lost lands be
restored to the rightful rule of Islam.